Type magazine device for business machines



June 22, 1954 J. SOBISCH 2,581,616

TYPE MAGAZINE DEVICE FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Filed Aug. 15, 1950 I 2Sheets-Sheet 1 June 22, 1954 1 2,681,616

TYPE MAGAZINE DEVICE FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Filed Aug. 15, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEKi Patented June 22, 1954 TYPE MAGAZINE DEVICE FORBUSINESS MACHINES Johannes Sobisch, Bielefeld, Germany, assignor toAnker-Werke, A. G., Bielefeld, Germany, a

corporation of Germany Application August 15, 1950, Serial No. 179,445

Claims priority, application Germany September 26, 1949 Claims.

This invention relates to business machines such as cash registers,calculating or accounting machines, and particularly to the typemagazine means for the printing apparatus of such machinery.

It is usually desirable to accommodate the type carrying elements withina minimum of space. This is already important for type carriers withonly ten number types but is even more significant if additional letteror symbol types are accommodated, because the displacement of the typecarrier needed for the selection of the last type of a row increaseswith the length of the row, and an increased carrier displacementinvolves correspondingly larger structural demands and requires moretime for each printing. There is a limit to increasing the speed ofcarrier because the proper stopping of the type carrier becomesincreasingly difficult with larger speeds. There is also a limit toreducing the size of the types because, for readability of the printedtext and sufficient mechanical strength against bending, the types musthave certain minimum dimensions.

It is an object of the invention to devise a type carrying device forbusiness machines in which the type selecting movement and the spaceoccupied by the type members inthe direction of that movement aregreatly reduced without requiring a reduction in the size and strengthof the individual type members as compared with those of comparableknown devices.

Another object of the invention is to design the type magazine devicesof business machines in such a manner that, even with smallest types ofdimensions close to the readability limit, the types can be arranged soclosely together that the interstices are not larger than needed formechanical tolerance.

An object of the invention is also to improve the means which guide thedisplaceable type carriers relative to the stationary frame or supportstructure of such devices. In particular, while it has been infeasiblein the known devices to guidingly support the type carriers in theimmediate vicinity of the printing place, it is an aim of the inventionto provide a secure guidance in that vicinity, thus affording a betterstrength and printing accuracy of the whole printing unit.

According to one of the features of the invention, the guide means formovably securing the type members to their common type carrier arearranged in two or more rows so that the guide means of each type memberare displaced relative to those of each adjacent member.

According to another feature of the invention, the guide means forslidably securing the type carrier to the appertaining stationarymachine structure are disposed and in engagement with the carrier atlocations within the dimensional range of the group of type members.

According to still another feature of the invention, a reset bar forreturning the type members to their normal rest position and securingthem in that position is joined with a parallel motion mechanism tosafeguard an accurate resetting dispite the narrow-spaced arrangement ofthe type group.

These and other features, set forth with particularity in the claimsannexed hereto, will be apparent from the following description of theembodiments exemplified by the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a type magazine device for number and letter printing,

Fig. 2 shows a similar device whose type carrier accommodates fewertypes, for instance, only for the printing of numbers,

Fig. 3 shows part of a type carrier structure according to Fig. 1 or 2on a larger scale and seen from the rear of the carrier,

Fig. 4 is a part-sectional side view of the carrier structure shown inFig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a top view of a fastening disc appertaining to the samestructure, and

Fig. 6 is a side view of the same disc as it appears before the disc isjoined with the carrier structure.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, a group of type members I is disposedon a plate-shaped type carrier 4. The type members consist of elongatedslide bars which extend parallel to each other. Each bar is slidablysecured to the carrier 4 by two guides 2 and has a somewhat enlargedhead 3 to carry the type proper. Each guide 2 consists of a frame whichsurrounds the appertaining type bar I and is fastened to the carrier ,4.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the type carrier in its lowermost, normally occupied,position. In that position, the uppermost type member 5, carrying, forinstance, the number type 0 is in operative position, 1. e. its (right)actuating end then lies in front of a printing hammer (not shown). When,during the operation of the business machine, this particular type is tobe printed, the carrier remains in its illustrated bottom position, and,after the type members are released by the mechanism described below,the printing hammer is actuated and drives the uppermost type memberagainst the inking ribbon and paper (not shown) to the position shownfor the uppermost type member 9 in Fig. 2. If another type is to beprinted, the carrier 4 is displaced upwardly a corresponding extent sothat the printing hammer will hit the one other type member 5 thusselected. The displacement of the type carrier is effected by a rack 4awhich is engageable with corresponding control means of the machine. Itwill be recognized that, for placing the lowermost type member intoprinting position, the type carrier must travel a distance correspondingto the overall width of the type member group. This width and maximumtravel distance are kept very small by virtue of the features describedpresently.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the guide ames 2 for the typemembers I are disposed in two pairs of rows extending parallel to thecarrier displacement direction. That is, the arrangement of the guideframes of each pair of rows is staggered or zig-zag shaped, the framesfor each type member being displaced from those of each adjacent member.As a result, and as shown, the type heads 3 can be so closely alignedthat the interstices are not larger than just re quired by the necessarymechanical tolerance. The bar-shaped type members in the illustratedexample are somewhat narrower than the type heads or types proper, butthe mutual distances between the rs are still smaller than the width ofthe individual bar. How considerable the resulting space reduction iswill bestbe recognized from the larger scale showing of Figs. 3 and InFigs. 3 and 4, three guide frames appertaining to three successive typemembers i are more specifically denoted by 2a, 2b and 2c. The frames 2aand 2b lie in the same vertical frame row, while frame 20 belongs toanother row. Each frame is saddle-shaped and has two legs passingthrough a hole ib in the carrier plate i. This hole is stepped to form aledge 5 for engagement by a fastening disc 6. The disc 6 has twodiametrically opposite recesses l traversed by the legs of the guideframe. Before being assembled, the fastening disc 6 is bent along acenter line 8 to an approximately right-angular shape (Fig. 6). Whenassembling the device and after inserting the disc 6 with its recesses Iover the frame legs, the disc iiis straightened, for instance, by arivet .ing machine, to the flat shape shown in Figs. 4

and 5, and then secures the guide frame to the carrier. The spacerequired by each individual guideframe assembly is determined by itswidest part, i. e. by the fastening disc. For sufficientmechanicalstrength, a certain minimum portion 9 of carrier material mustremain between adjacent openings db (Fig. 4). For that reason, inasingle-row arrangement of the guide frames, two

, adjacent frames cannot be placed closer together than the frames 2aand 2b in Fig. 4. The staggered plural-row arrangement according to theinvention, however, permits placing another type member between each twoadjacent type memers of a single-row guide means arrangement.

Indeed, as shown in Fig. l, the spaces occupied shown in Fig. 1. Thisrest position is secured by a reset bar It which extends parallel to thecarrier displacement direction across all type members of the group andis biased by a spring II to the position shown in Fig. 1. In thatposition, the right-hand edge of bar iii, passing through respectiverecesses of the type members, engages each type member, for instance, atla. After the selected type member is placed in printing position andbefore the printing hammer is actuated, the reset bar Hi is moved fromthe rest position (Fig. 1) to the release position (Fig. 2) near thetype heads of the members, thus releasing the selected type member forprinting. After the printing, the printing hammer returns to itsinactive position, and spring ll returns the bar It! to the restposition, thus resetting the type memher.

To accurately reset all type members to the desired rest position,especially in View of the narrower arrangement of the type groupaccording to the invention, an exact parallel motion of the reset bariii is desirable. To this end, and in accordance with another feature ofthe invention, the reset bar is joined with a parallelogram guidemechanism. Pivot pins i2 and 23 form the fixed journals of theparallelogram. The pins are rigidly secured to the carrier plate t andcarry two bell crank levers hi and i5 respectively. Linked tothese'levers are: two rods 56 and I! which can be displaced only inparallel motion. The reset bar [ii is rigidly joined withv rod ll andhence is also constrained to parallel .motion.

A complete type magazine, of course, has. a

number of the above-described type carriers, one for each digit or placeof the line to be printed. The type carrier plates are aligned close. toone another in face-to-face relation and are guided between stationarycross bars iii with attached guide combs is (Figs. 1, 2). The cross barssecure a proper vertical displacement of the carriers while the guidecombs, straddling each carrier plate of the stack, provide a properlateral spacing between the carriers.

shown, the. width of each carrier 5 is larger than the length of thetype members i so that the edge portions of each carrier project on bothsides over the group of type members when the members are in the restposition. The cross bars 58 and guide combs i9 engage these projectingedge portions. Thus, a very stable carrier guidance free from edgingtendency is secured, and it is readily possible to place a carrier guidein the immediate vicinity of the printing place as is the case with theupper bars 58 and combs E9 in Figs. 1 and 2.

it will be obvious to those slzilled in the art upon a study of thisdisclosure that type magazine devices according to the invention can bevaried and modified as regards design details and arrangement withoutforegoing the objects and advantages of the invention and withoutdeparting from its essential features set forth in the claims annexedhereto.

' I claim:

7.. A type magazine device for business machines, comprising a typecarrier linearly dislaceable for type selection, a group or mutuallyarallel type members individually movable transversely to the carrierdisplacement direction and having respective slide bars and respectivetype heads, said type heads being noraligned at oneside of said carrierand said slide cars having respective actuating endsnormaliy aligned atthe opposite side of said carrier, said slide bars having in saidcarrier displacement direction a mutual spacing smaller than the widthof each slide bar, and a plurality of guide means slidably engageablewith said respective bars and secured to said carrier in a plurality ofrows parallel to said carrier displacement direction, the width of saidslide bars plus the width of said guide means in said direction beinggreater than the width of said type heads in said direction, said guidemeans of each bar being displaced relative to said guide means of eachadjacent bar.

2. In a type magazine device according to claim 1, said guide meanscomprising two frame members for each of said slide bars, said two framemembers being spaced from each other along the appertaining bar andsurrounding said bar, the frame members of adjacent bars being disposedin overlapping relation to each other relative to said carrierdisplacement direction.

3. A type magazine device according to claim 1, comprising aparallelogram mechanism having a reset bar extending parallel to saidcarrier displacement direction across said slide bars and havingconstrained parallel motion of said reset bar along said slide bars,said mechanism and reset bar having a given rest position and havingbiasing means normally holding said mechanism and reset bar in saidposition, said reset bar being in retaining engagement with said slidebars when in said rest position and disengageable from said bars torelease them prior to a printing operation.

4. A type magazine device for cash registers, calculating and accountingmachines and the like, comprising a type carrier displaceable in a firstdirection for type selection, a group of elongated type membersextending parallel to each other in a second direction perpendicular tosaid first direction and being individually movable relative to saidcarrier in said second direction, each of said type members having atype head and a slide bar of smaller width in said first direction thansaid type head, a plurality of guide means firmly secured to saidcarrier and straddling said respective type members for slidablysecuring said respective type members to said carrier, the width of saidslide bars plus the width of said guide means in said first directionbeing greater than the width of said type heads in said first direction,said guide means of alternate type members being arranged inrespectively different rows parallel to said first direction, each ofsaid guide means having in said first direction an outer widthoverlapping that of each adjacent guide means.

5. A type magazine device for business machines, comprising stationarystructure, a fiat type carrier plate capable of translatory movement ina first direction relative to said structure, a group of mutuallyparallel and juxtaposed type members of elongated shape each comprisingslide bars and having respective normally aligned type heads, saidindividual members being longitudinally movable in a second directionperpendicular to said first direction, guide means movably securing saidrespective slide bars to said carrier plate, said guide means ofmutually adjacent slide bars being displaced relative to each other andarranged in a plurality of rows parallel to said first direction, thewidth of said slide bars plus the width of said guide means in saidfirst direction being greater than the width of said type heads in saidfirst direction, and carrier guide means slidably securing said carrierto said structure and arranged within the dimensional range of saidgroup in said first direction, said carrier having in said seconddirection a width larger than the length of said type members and havingrespective edge portions projecting beyond the longitudinal ends of eachmember when said members are in normal position, and said carrier guidemeans being engageable with said projecting edge portions of saidcarrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,121,721 Dysart Dec. 22, 1914 1,334,758 Horton Mar. 23, 19201,978,898 Ford Oct.. 30, 1934 2,494,014 Thomas Jan.. 10, 1950 2,508,593Braun May 23, 1950

